Reference Services Committee Meeting Minutes Sept. 12, 2012

Present: Laura Anderson (Rotman), Patricia Bellamy (Robarts), Allison Bell (Gerstein), Juliya Borie (Cataloguing/CAUG), Richard Carter (Kelly), Chad Crichton (UTSC), Elsie Del Bianco (Trinity), Monique Flaccavento (OISE), Margaret Fulford (UC/Robarts), Debbie Green (Robarts – minutes), Helen He (Dentistry), Marc Lalonde (ITS), Joan Links (Media Commons), Susanne Meyers Sawa (Music), Effie Patelos (Architecture), Kimberly Silk (Rotman /MPI), Vicki Skelton (CIRHR), Michelle Spence, Joanna Szurmak (UTM), Susanne Tabur (Gerstein), Jennifer Toews (Fisher), Jacqueline Whyte Appleby

REGRETS: John Bolan, Dylanne Dearborn, Sara McDowell, Len Ferstman, Helen Ge, Jack Howard, Roma Kail, Sooin Kim, Gian Medves, Sian Meikle, Patricia Meindl, Effie Patelos, Joan Pries, Ian Whyte

NEXT MEETING: tbd pending response from Larry Alford

ITS Report

Marc reported work being done on various library sites to get them into Drupal. ModSecurity installation created many 403 error messages but problem has been resolved. However this did delay Responsive Web Design work. SFX link resolver has been shut down. Patrons who have bookmarked old urls will not be able to get in via SFX anymore.

LibPAS Supplementary statistics

Lari, Debbie and Monique reported that some individual libraries have created additional places to collect reference stats (Reference and Research Services). These include web reference interactions such as Ask A Librarian, LibAnswers, email reference. And some libraries want to collect stats on interactions such as consultations, in a way that is more meaningful and helps with library planning. Some of these questions are: how do we use our stats in addition to reporting to ARL, do we want to use them to demonstrate value to users across the library system?

A small group will be formed to discuss ways that we might want to report our “central” stats such as those from shared services like LibAnswers. Those interested in formulating some proposals should contact Debbie Green.

Personal Librarian

Rita Vine discussed the initiative. The pilot consists of 1000 students and 10 librarians. The back end has been created to send personalized emails to students. The pilot will begin Sept. 20. Email will alert students to their personal librarian. If they forget who their librarian is they can check personal.library.utoronto.ca

Online Reference Desk statistics form

Heather Buchansky and Judith Logan presented on Google stats form and spreadsheet for collecting reference desk statistics. The spreadsheet data can be dumped into Excel for greater security. The form has been live since Sept 4 and collects type, time, duration and has the option for topic. Automatically feeds into Google spreadsheet. Most desk staff are finding it no problem to incorporate into their reference routine. It will allow more accurate and detailed stats collection to help with service planning and analysis.

NFB Online films

Joan Links reported that part of the NFB collection of online films (about 500) which are paid for by UTL is currently difficult to access from the library web. Users should go directly to the NFB site to access. Contact the Media Commons for more detailed instructions on access.

Study Room Booking system

Allison Bell and Monique Flaccavento described the PHP Scheduler in use at Gerstein and OISE and available from their web pages. It allows students to book study rooms. Libraries wanting an “instance” of PHP Scheduler should email Sian Meikle in ITS.

Libguide Update

Michelle Spence and Allison Bell - New version of Libguides was discussed. Some groups have been set up which can create their own unique look and feel. New version can create surveys which can be used in the guide or stand alone. Michelle described using an embedded evaluation form for a class in one of her guides.

Creators of course guides should please include the course code at the beginning of the title and tag the guide with “course”. Creators are asked to delete or unpublish course guides for courses that are not offered in the current year.

2